Chance The Rapper criticises J. Cole for seemingly targeting Noname in ‘Snow On Tha Bluff’

"It's not constructive and undermines all the work Noname has done"

Chance The Rapper has weighed in on the J. Cole and Noname row over lyrics in Cole’s new song ‘Snow On Tha Bluff’.

The ‘Colouring Book’ rapper said J. Cole‘s lyric – unconfirmed, though apparently alluding to Noname’s Black Lives Matter activism – “undermines all the work” she’s has done.

Earlier this week Cole released a song in which he expresses how he feels unequipped to be a leader in the movement and that he feels belittled by those who are more “woke” than he is. Some of the lyrics in the song read: “Just ’cause you woke and I’m not / That shit ain’t no reason to talk like you better than me“.

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Noname J Cole
Noname and J. Cole CREDIT: Getty

One lyric in particular was interpreted by some to be a reference to Noname: “But shit / it’s something about the queen tone that’s botherin’ me“. Cole later praised Noname and urged his fans to follow her on social media, which many inferred as confirmation that she was the subject of his lyrics. Additionally, Noname herself had written “QUEEN TONE” in response to first hearing the song, though the tweet has since been deleted.

Now, Chance The Rapper has stepped in to defend what he sees is an unfair attack on Noname. “Yet another L for men masking patriarchy and gaslighting as constructive criticism,” Chance wrote on Twitter yesterday (June 17).

Later, Chance reacted to a fan taking issue with his tweet. He noted that both Cole and Noname are his friends before going on to explain why he felt the need to address Cole’s divisive track.

“They both my peoples but only one of them put out a whole song talking about how the other needs to reconsider their tone and attitude in order to save the world,” he told the fan. “It’s not constructive and undermines all the work Noname has done. It’s not BWs job to spoon feed us. We grown,” he wrote.

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He followed it up with a tweet in which he expressed his disappointment about the public clash. “Everybody’s argument on either side is, we can’t personally attack each other if we really want to see a revolution,” he wrote. “I can agree with that and can apply it in my own life. I wish we could learn that w/o two artists I admire having a public dispute.”

Cole received backlash from some listeners when he shared the track. “Stop expecting Black women + femmes to spell shit out for y’all bc you don’t wanna google,” said one Twitter user.

The rapper responded earlier this week, saying: “I stand behind every word of the song that dropped last night.

“Right or wrong I can’t say, but I can say it was honest. Some assume to know who the song is about. That’s fine with me, it’s not my job to tell anybody what to think or feel about the work.”

He later added: “I haven’t done a lot of reading and I don’t feel well equipped as a leader in these times. But I do a lot of thinking. And I appreciate her and others like her because they challenge my beliefs and I feel that in these times that’s important.”

Cole’s follow-up to 2018’s ‘KOD’, titled ‘The Fall Off’, is expected to be released in 2020. It’s currently unknown whether ‘Snow On Tha Bluff’ will feature in his forthcoming sixth studio album.

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